Dr. Kei Yamamoto is an archaeologist who has done extensive work on the site of Abydos, excavating Middle Kingdom chapels at the Terrace of the Great God. At this lecture he will be discussing the significance of Abydos and the work that was done there in 1902-1903 by Charles Currelly, one of the founders of the Royal Ontario Museum. NOTE - This lecture is exclusively for members of the Friends of Egypt group at the museum.
There will never be another archaeologist like Amice Mary Calverley. She was a plane-flying, war-filming, desert-living Egyptologist, who created stunning drawings of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos.
With the onset of World War II she found herself fighting in a propaganda war against the Axis. However, one of the people who edited her Seti work, Egyptologist Hermann Junker, was aiding the Nazis. He did this even as he was still editing Calverley's work!
Born in Chelsea, London, UK in 1896, her drawings, financed by John Rockefeller Jr., were published in four oversized colour volumes. Her drawings were so good that her editors could find hieroglyphic errors made by the ancient Egyptians, but scarcely one made by her.
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They recognized that she had the rare ability to draw an ancient feature without taking any artistic license – she could make an exact copy
Seti I ruled Egypt ca. 1314-1304 BC and is well known for his building projects and military campaigns.
His mortuary temple at Abydos contains numerous architectural features - two vast courts, two hypostyle halls, a so called “butchery hall” and two Osiris halls, just to name a few. These contain numerous works of art.
It’s believed that Seti I’s son, Ramesses II, may have finished portions of the temple after his father died.
The temple is built mainly of limestone, although sandstone was used in some areas. The outer courts and there pylons are severely damaged, with little remaining of them.
Its first hypostyle hall was initially decorated with raised reliefs by Seti I. A raised relief is when the figure sticks out a bit from the walls. After Seti I’s death Ramesses II converted them to sunken reliefs and had them repainted.
The second hypostyle hall contains several bas reliefs - the figures are slightly above the surface while the background is completely flat. By Seti I’s death all the reliefs had been carved, although some had yet to be coloured.
Amice Mary Calverley was a Canadian Egyptologist who is best known for her drawings of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos.
Working with her friend Myrtle Broome, she drew full-colour drawings of almost ever feature of the temple. These drawings were published in four oversized volumes, with two other volumes remaining unpublished.
She had no formal education in Egyptology and her break came when she landed a job at the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford. The professors at the museum, include Sir Leonard Woolley, recognized that she a special talent for archaeological drawing. She could copy an ancient drawing exactly, without taking any artistic license.
It took about 10 years of work to complete her drawings at the Temple of Seti. She lived at Abydos for long periods of time. She learned Arabic and learned the customs of the countryside well.
In 1948 she proposed to the Egyptian government that an ethnographic film be shot of life in contemporary Abydos. Her request was denied by the government, who was unhappy with her idea, and she was effectively declared persona non grata in Egypt.
Submitted by Keith Payne on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 10:30
Abydos is arguably the most sacred site of ancient Egypt, and quite possibly the most important archaeological site to Egyptology. Many would argue that other locations, such as the Memphis Necropolis or the Valley of the Kings are much more important, but before you cringe at the above statement, consider the work of the Pennsylvania University, Yale University, and New York University Institute of Fine Arts' joint expedition to Abydos. After more than four decades in the field, the Penn-Yale-IFA expedition held a symposium at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology on September 19, 2009.
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If the cult enclosure of Khasekhemwy in North Abydos represents the first royal pyramid complex in Egypt, then Ahmose’s complex represents the last.
The interest in being buried at Abydos may be partially personal devotion to Osiris, but may also reflect new concepts of the importance of Osiris in the process of royal rebirth in the afterlife.
Was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled ca. 1870-1831 BC during the 12th dynasty of the Middle Kingdom.
He is best known for expanding Egypt’s territory into Nubia. Under his rule, Egypt conquered territory as far south as Semna, in the modern day Sudan. He built fortresses on this frontier (including Semna, Uronarti and Buhen) that kept Nubians from going north, although some of the fortresses also served as outposts for trade (Nubian gold had long been in demand in Egypt).
Egypt continued to become more centralized with the pharaoh now firmly in power over the regional nomarchs. Senwosret III took an active role in the cult of Osiris at Abydos, erecting a cenotaph there. He built a 60 meter high mud-brick pyramid at the site of Dashur that bears some resemblance to the Step Pyramid of Djoser.
Dr. Janet Richards is an Assistant Professor of Egyptology at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. She has served as Curatorial Assistant in the Egyptian Section at University of Pennsylvania Museum, Curator of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, and was the Field Director for the Pennsylvania-Yale Abydos North Cemetery Project. While Field Director for the Abydos North Cemetery Project, Dr. Richards conducted a full and detailed survey of the organization of the Old Kingdom cemetery, and ultimately led the discovery of the tomb of Weni II.
There will never be another archaeologist like 
Amidst the charming Victorian cases of jewellery along the walls of the larger room in 
Abydos 
